Canadian SI Swimsuit model Nicole Williams English 'feels the most confident' in her 40s: 'This is my favourite era'

Yahoo

03-06-2025

Nicole Williams English is at the top of her game. The Newfoundland native is one of 38 women to be featured in the 2025 SI Swimsuit issue, alongside stars like Salma Hayek Pinault, influencer Alix Earle and fellow Canadian Lauren Chan.
The issue, which hits newsstands on May 17, is the third time Williams English has posed for the iconic magazine. She made her Sports Illustrated debut in 2023 when she was seven months pregnant with her daughter, India Moon, whom she shares with husband retired NFL player Larry English.
Yahoo Canada spoke to Williams English about achieving her ultimate career goal, balancing work and motherhood and more.
Williams English had her sights set on modelling for SI Swimsuit ever since she began modelling at 16. Before making the move to the U.S., the now 41-year-old says she would pack a sleeping bag and a pillow and board a bus from Toronto to New York to attend castings.
'Every time I'd walk through the door, I'd have to talk to myself. I was so nervous. My heart would be pounding,' she recalls.
Year after year, she would come within arms reach of her dream, but never gave up hope that she would someday make it into the magazine.
'I really didn't know why it wasn't clicking back then, but now I do. Now that I'm older I look back at myself and I see where I was mentally...I just wasn't ready. I wasn't confident enough,' she says. 'I didn't know myself well enough. I was still trying to keep up with every other model and trying to be like every other model.'
But after years of trying to fit in, Williams English had enough.
'I feel like I kind of came into myself and in my early 30s…There was something inside me that was dying to come out. I want to get tattoos. I want to dye my hair red. I want to get a whole bunch of piercings. I want to do what I want to do," she says.
In 2015, she joined the cast of the E! reality series WAGS: Los Angeles, where she began to build her personal brand and amass a large online following. As she began moving through the world to the beat of her own drum, the modelling world took notice of her newfound confidence.
'There was a certain point in my life where I was like, I'm just going to dress and do whatever the hell I want,' she says. 'People are going to love it because I'm going to be so confident doing it that nobody will question it.'
At 39, a pregnant Williams English received the call she had been waiting for her entire career.
'I thought it was a joke… but then when I hung up, I was like… I see why this is happening for me now,' she says. 'I would do it all over again. I'd make the same mistakes… It brought me to this space where I feel the most confident. I know who I am; I don't follow anybody else. I'm a leader. I truly just want to be that representation of this young girl who has these dreams and makes it all happen for herself.'Williams English is in the wonderful and exhausting trenches of life with a toddler. The model juggles her busy career with swimming lessons and caring for her 2-year-old daughter. Although she admits that it's "not all perfect" she's being careful to make choices that ensure her daughter has a present and happy mother.
"Everything I do revolves around her," she says. "When I think about my future and I make decisions… I'm thinking about her future, not my own."
Like many moms with young children, she's had to work to find her rhythm. Williams English says she has a newfound urge to take care of herself.
"I look at myself and I have a full head of grey hair which I struggle with. It's definitely challenging having this type of career. Being 41 and looking at yourself aging, you're trying to stop the clock and do any anti-aging regimens that you can," she says. "You just have to find the right balance so that you get enough self care...It's scary as mom, you want to be there for your child and be healthy. You're worried about ever leaving them on this planet without you."
Williams English's wellness journey includes hormone replacement therapy after bloodwork revealed she had low testosterone.
"I was very moody. I was snapping at everybody in the morning. I wasn't depressed, but I was just kind of mad - angry at everything. Everything was a catastrophe for me… I was having really bad anxiety," she says. "I was literally crawling out of bed. I was really, really exhausted."
Now that she's back on track, she's taking her time and is committed to building a career with staying power. "Slow and steady," she says.
In January, Williams English travelled to Jamaica for her third SI Swimsuit photoshoot. Even though she was named Rookie of the Year in 2023, she admits that she never takes the opportunity to pose for the magazine for granted.
'Every year, it's still like the first time. I'm waiting for the call. When you find out you're shooting again… it's so exciting,' she says. 'I don't look at any of this as work. This is truly my passion and what I'm made for. I feel super grateful and super blessed to be in this moment in life where everything is just amazing. My 40s are really amazing right now. This is my favourite era.'